The Evening Before The Night When Nobody Had Any
by rareb
Summary: Two former archenemies meet ten years after Hogwarts in a Pub in Ireland. What do they have to tell each other after a considerable amount of Cider? OC's, sidestory to Haven't thought of you lately by RowenaR and myself. see her profile
1. Chapter 1 Linda

**The Evening Before The Night When Nobody Had Any Sex Whatsoever**

_This Story is a cooperation with Stina, who has no profile on this is why I'm posting it. It was all her idea. It's basically a plotbunny to "Haven't thought of you lately, which is published by RowenaR. Go check on her profile for other interesting stories about OCs. _

Disclaimer by Stina:

_All recognizable characters and other names are copyright the Awesomeness that is JK Rowling. Orion belongs to rareb, Lynx belongs to Lenalina, Linda belongs to me. The villages of Fenit and Ardfert exist and are worth a visit, especially that pub. _

_This story is set in a universe created by a roleplay group in a certain German forum with the lovely nickname "Green Hell". The story takes place about 10 years after the current events in our roleplay. I thank everybody involved for creating such lovely characters and rareb and RowenaR for allowing me to hop on their fanfiction train. _

_This story is dedicated to M., because he hates clichés as much as I do. _

_Slainte!  
_

* * *

The pub was packed, which was unusual for a Thursday night. Linda didn't mind, she sat in her usual corner near the bar, her notebook on her lap, writing in between short conversations with people she knew.

In the five years since she had moved to that little cottage just outside her home town, she had never missed her weekly trips to the pub. It wasn't a very good place to write, but she liked to sit and watch people - and she had to report to her friends about the progress of her latest book.

They wanted to know how the story got along, if any characters were based on them (they were, but she wouldn't tell which) and if she portrayed them correctly. Sometimes she felt as if she should share her salary with the whole pub because all the regulars tried to give some kind of input to the story.

She smiled as she thought back to when her very first book had come out. It had been about racism in the wizarding world, about the strange logic behind the "blood" ideology and the fact that one third of all so-called "pureblood" families were already inbred. This book, written by a pureblood, came out in the middle of the War. Needless to say she didn't have many fans back then.

By the time the War had ended, everybody was quick to annouce that of course they had read her book and of course she was right and that everybody had known it all along. Even those who had written angry letters suddenly agreed with her.

Linda had smiled, nodded and moved on to writing fiction. She wanted to reach a broader audience, muggles and wizards alike, and chose to write about the part of Ireland where she had grown up. It became a series of books, not on the bestseller's top ten, but they brought enough money for her to buy a small cottage near Fenit and move there.

Right now, she was in the middle of the fourth installment of the series. Quite literally - she was stuck in mid-sentence and didn't know how to continue. It was then when Brian, the owner of the pub, approached her.

"I think you should mention that he once rescued a sheep off the top of a cliff," he said, looking over her shoulder at the scene she had just written.

"And why should I mention that?" she asked, trying to stay serious.

"'Cause I did, that year... erm, 1987," Brian answered, eyebrows raised.

She sighed. "Brian, that guy is not you."

"Sure he is."

"No, he's really not!"

"Whatever." He winked at her and returned to the bar.

Linda sighed again and started writing again. After a while, a shadow fell over her as somebody stood at her table. Without looking up, she said, "Brian, honestly, if that guy was you, I'd not only mention the sheep, I'd also mention the time you were half naked out in the fields, claiming you had seen a fairy. You wouldn't want me to write that, would you?"

When no answer came, she looked up. And saw that it was not Brian who was standing in front of her table.


	2. Chapter 2 Orion

"A good evening to you, too, Miss Emerson", said Orion Yaxley and sat down in front of her, "so I take you're still writing? I just hope for you it's not as unfounded and simplistic as your first published work."

The associate Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet wasn't in this remote little village by accident. He was currently working on a series about the ten most influential people in the British wizarding society and his first subject, retreated politician and grey eminence of the ministry Rupert 0'Millian, had retired to his home country after the war.

He had granted Mr. Yaxley one of his rare interviews, or rather, it had been agreed he would, but he hadn't opened the door for him at the assigned time. But of course journalists don't give in that easily. If the politician wanted to play stubborn, he would learn that reporters can be even more stubborn if they sense a good story. And this interview would definitely earn him his post as Editor-in-Chief in a few years time when his current boss will retire.

That's why Orion had stayed in the village of Ardfert and had unsuccessfully waited for hours. Finally, he had been too cold to wait outside the portal of the vast manor house of 0'Millian and had decided to take a drink in the local pub – the only one in this godforsaken area. He had been annoyed and bored. He would have to report back to London that he'd stay here longer than he had expected - but had decided to worry about this after he had warmed up a little bit.

Then he had recognized Linda Emerson. His former schoolmate and first Editor-in-Chief of the Schools Newspaper back in Hogwarts was sitting in a corner of the pub. He didn't know if he still resented her for beating him in that, even though it had finally been him who had gotten the job at the Prophet.

But he knew he had more than one score to settle with her and as he had nothing else to do but wait, he had walked straight up to her table. He hadn't been able to suppress a smirk when she had started babbling about… whatever it was. "Still out if it as usual", he had thought before addressing her.


	3. Chapter 3 Linda

Linda froze, her pen hovering mid-air, when she heard the voice. A voice she hadn't heard in years, but would instantly recognize. She had to resist the urge to rub her eyes when Orion Yaxley sat down in front of her, just to make sure he was really there.

"Well, _that_ is a surprise," she said, trying to keep a straight face in spite of the mixture of emotions that suddenly surfaced in her. _Damn, it's been long._

She didn't even acknowledge his comment at her first book - of course he would have hated it. It was one of the things they had never agreed on, the purity of blood and everything that came with it. Friends had pointed out his article in the Daily Prophet, two days after _Not So Pure_ came out, but she had decided not to read it. Not because he was the author, but because she didn't read any reviews, good or bad, of her work on principle. She didn't want to be influenced on what or how she wrote. Least of all by people like Yaxley.

They had lost touch after school (not that she had tried to stay in contact), but she knew that he hadn't turned up on Voldemort's side during the war, which had surprised her a little. There had been a brief encounter a couple of years ago, but it was at a party and she had been too preoccupied with discussing things with her editor to really pay attention.

Yaxley had already sat down, not bothering with waiting for an invitation. Linda put down her pen, closed her notebook and leaned back in her chair.

"Mister Yaxley, it's been a while. What brings you to this wonderful town?"


	4. Chapter 4 Orion

"Now, what could a journalist like me bring to your godforsaken village? - Besides an interview with you of course, which is not why I'm here", he answered smiling and leaned back in his chair. "_Let's see if she even knows who's living in her neighbourhood_", he thought.

"What a pity. I would have loved to give you all the dirty details on my exciting life as a famous best-selling author. So you're here as a tourist? The ruins of the cathedral are really nice, they're a short walk down the street", she replied smirking and folded her arms.

He rolled his eyes. Was she that naïf or was she just playing? With Emerson, you could never tell. "Oh, you know, I could arrange that with our cultural department. It's just…" he gave her a pitying look, "I'm not interested. Thankfully you've stopped trying to comment on politics. It didn't suit you."

Orion was surprised as she threw him a killing glance and answered: "It stopped being political and became personal when I lost my brother to an ideology that divides humanity in those who deserve to live and those who don't. - Whatever. The war is over. The good guys won. Kind of. You still didn't answer my question, though."

He had never bothered enough to find out about her family history and there were so many victims in war you couldn't keep a record on everyone. So her brother had been killed? That would certainly explain a lot about her book. But this didn't calm his temper.

He threw her an angry look before he gave back "You see, you're not the only one who has lost family members in that war and some even got killed even though they had… never mind." He tried to calm himself down a bit. "I haven't answered your question because it's obvious. I'm here because of I should interview Rupert O'Millian." He hoped this would change the subject. "And is there no waiter around here?"


	5. Chapter 5 Linda

"Actually, no there isn't," she said, got up and walked the three steps it took her to reach the bar.

"Brian, one Cashel for the gentleman please," she called out to the elderly man behind the bar who was busy wiping the same spot for the seventh time.

With a smirk, Brian filled a glass until it almost overflowed and handed it back to Linda. "Friend of yours?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a nod to Yaxley.

Linda took the glass and rolled her eyes. "My favorite enemy from days of old. Long story. Write the cider down for me, will you?" she added, indicating the money for the drink. Brian nodded, turned to the blackboard specifically designed for this, and immediately forgot to write it down, as he always did.

Linda returned to the table, balancing the glass before her and set it down in front of Yaxley. The cider came dangerously close to spilling over, but Linda was an expert.

"Here," she said matter-of-factly, "drink's on me. You'll need it. Because O'Millian is out of town and won't return this week." She grabbed her own glass, saluted him and added, "You're stuck here, I'm afraid. Unless, of course, you apparated. Which you probably did, because the only broom I see here is Maggie's, and she uses hers to clean the stables."

Yaxley's jaw dropped. "What?! You can't be serious. I've got an appointment today.. which he didn't observe." The last part was said more to himself than to her.

"I'm dead serious. Ask everyone here, O'Millian won't be back until Thursday. I'm afraid you need to brush up your appointment-making skills," she said, grinning at him over the rim of her glass.

"I'm so going to fire that stupid girl. That's the second time in a month she's mixed up appointments..." Yaxley was clearly angry now.

"Ah, back to the old game of "Blaming Everyone Else", I see," Linda said, "cheers, Mr Yaxley."

She took another sip of her drink, bigger this time, watching Yaxley out of the corner of her eye. He clearly wasn't used to this, judging from the way he held the glass and frowned at the liquid therein.

"What do you mean by that, pray? I don't blame people for no reason."

"Sure you don't," Linda murmured, half obscured by the huge glass she was holding. She caught his stare and put down the glass harder than necessary. "Mary, mother of Jesus, will you drink already?!"

Yaxley took a reluctant sip and then stared at the cider. "What the hell is that?"

"A rare potion, mixed during the full moon, the recipe handed down from generation to generation. Only the second daughter of a second daughter is allowed to brew it. It's CIDER, Yaxley. Made of APPLES. Relax, for heaven's sake."

Linda was losing patience. She also was aware of about fifteen pairs of eyes watching her. There weren't many tourists in Ardfert, let alone off-season, so Yaxley had become the Thursday night attraction at the pub. The fact that he was sitting with Linda made various locals stick their heads together. Linda shot them a warning look.

When she looked back at Yaxley, he had blushed a little. Then he asked, "I was wondering - um - do you know O'Millian personally?", trying to sound innocent, but failing miserably.

"I know him well enough to know that he's an arrogant racist prick. Actually, you'd love him. You have a lot in common."

Back in school, this would have earned her a curse or at least the threat of one, but she knew that he wouldn't try anything in a room full of muggles. Also, she had forgotten how much she loved teasing him. Then her face turned serious again.

"Don't think I don't know what you're aiming at. I can't make him appear before Thursday either. Sorry about that."

"An arrogant racist prick? - So that's what you think of me, isn't it?"

"Do you really want an answer to that?" she shot back and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Spare me, I already know," he sighed and took another drink.

Linda noticed that he wasn't hesitating any more. He seemed to like the cider, judging from the speed it disappeared from his glass. She didn't want to fight the whole evening long, so she decided to change the topic.

"So, now that we've exchanged the necessary insults, how are things at the Daily Prophet? And how's Mrs Yaxley doing? Come on, we don't get much news around here."


	6. Chapter 6 Orion

That wasn't the subject Orion was keen on but you couldn't help it, could you? He frowned and took another gulp of the cider – he felt he needed the alcohol badly after the events of the last six days. And Linda was just the second person that had suddenly reappeared out of his past.

"She's fine, I suppose", he answered and regretted the last part immediately. "_It must be the effect of the drink"_, he thought bitterly and drank some more.

"You suppose," she echoed and stared at him.

There he had it. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" he replied, trying to sound matter-of-factly, which didn't quite work out because he started to feel the alcohol going to his head.

"It's just that... shouldn't you KNOW how she's doing? Considering she's your wife and everything?" She hesitated. "Unless... oh."

„_Of course, she's able to confound her own books to the point you ask yourself whether she's actually there or not, but she MUST remark a detail like that"_, he thought to himself and tried to look determined.

"You know, if you want to succeed at a place like the Prophet, you have to work a lot, so..." he hesitated. It didn't sound convincing at all, so he simple drained the rest of the glass and said with a slightly shaking voice, "actually… we're… separated… kind of… at the moment." He would never have said that without the loosening effect of the alcohol for sure.

Linda was silent for a moment. Then she coughed.

"Sorry. Erm. I... that's... phew. Bad. Your turn. Embarass me." It took him quite some time to figure out what she was saying.

"You're still a spinster, aren't you? Never got over kissing me that day at the lakeside?" he offered, smiling a bit too broadly for his usual stiff bearing.

Amused, Orion watched Linda nearly choking on her drink. When she got over her giggling fit, she shook her head and grinned back.

"Believed it or not, there are actually better kissers in the world than you are, Orion dear. - You know what? Let's play a game. We can ask each other anything we want, and the other doesn't have to answer. He just has to... drink."

„Oh, you mean I was such a bad kisser you never wanted to kiss someone else?" he asked, trying to look shocked and innocent, but couldn't because the grin had fixed itself on his face. It was a good indicator that he had actually drunken enough for him to get a little more cheerful than was good for him. "O.k. – What are the rules?"


	7. Chapter 7 Linda

Linda made a motion for Brian to refill their drinks. "The rules are simple. You start a sentence with "Never have I ever" and add whatever you want. For example, "Never have I ever cheated in potions". And if you HAVE cheated in Potions, you have to take a drink. And the other person too. If you haven't, you don't take a drink. Simple."

The cider had slowed down Orion's ability to understand her instructions, but finally he nodded. "Okay. Got it. You start."

Linda grinned even wider. "Never have I ever cheated in Potions," she said pointedly and immediately took a drink, emptying her glass completely.

Brian brought her another before she had put down the glass. Yaxley grinned at her. "Define cheating."

"Anything that Snape would have defined as cheating," Linda added after a moment and watched as Yaxley took a drink.

This was beginning to feel like actual fun. The pub was still crowded, but Brian made sure they had a steady supply of cider and were left alone even though they occupied one of the bigger tables and others could have used the space.

It was Yaxley's turn again. "Never have I ever deliberatly taken advantage of my status as a pure-blood." Another drink.

Linda only took a small sip. "It was for the greater good and all," she said, looking down at the table and playing with her pen.

When she noticed Yaxley's triumphant grin, she felt that all too familiar anger well up inside her. "Don't you give me that look. The game says you have to answer, but you don't have to discuss your answers. My turn.Never have I ever thought about what would have been if the Sorting Hat had put me in another house."

She didn't drink.

He did.

She gave him a questioning look. "Really now?"

"You don't have to discuss the answer," he repeated her earlier statement, "my turn. Never have I ever manipulated someone into doing something he or she didn't want to do."


	8. Chapter 8 Orion

He raised his glass to drink, because it was obvious he had done that countless times. It was just curiosity that made him ask it, because Linda had always seemed so direct and kind of naively honest.

He wasn't really surprised when she looked him directly in the eyes, raised her glass, and drank. But still he couldn't suppress the question, "When?"

"Tsk tsk tsk Mr Yaxley, now what did we say about discussing answers?" she grinned. "My turn."

She paused for a moment and Orion could almost see her mind working.

"Never have I ever kissed someone from another house. Accidents and spells gone wrong not included", she finally said and looked at him expectantly.

Things started getting serious… He raised his glass slowly and took a sip while watching her doing the same.

She beamed at him:"Okay, forget that stupid rule. Who was it?!"

It was so obvious this would be coming. He only raised his eyebrow: "Do you really think I'm going to tell you?" he said, sarcastically.

She mimicked him and suggested: "If I tell you that all drinks tonight will be on me, will you tell me?"

He just smirked, before he replied. "Money never was an issue in my family."

She would have to offer him more than that to make him talk. "If I ask really, really, really nicely?" she tried, leaning over the table.

He just shook his head. "No. My turn", Orion said firmly and watched Linda's frustration with amusement.

"You're just not drunk enough." She gestured at him, that Orion started to fear she might crash one of the glasses.

He grinned widely. "Never have I ever been drunken enough to do something incredibly stupid", he continued the game and took another gulp.

"I don't have to be drunk for that," she said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Orion was a bit confused. "Fine, don't drink, then."

He shrugged and watched her. At least she recognized it, unlike back in School. "I just want to give you a head start. I'm Irish. I was raised on cider. My turn. Never have I ever kissed someone from Gryffindor", was her next move.

Again, Orion raised his eyebrow. "Do you really think I could have kissed a Gryffindor?" he replied, pretending to be shocked. but he didn't touch his glass.

She shrugged. "There are worse things to kiss, I suppose."

"Like what?" he had asked before he could help it.

"Like, I don't know. Filch. Snape. Slytherins. Whatever. Your turn", she explained.

He narrowed his eyes. _Come on, it wasn't that bad kissing me, was it?_ he thought, but didn't say it and just continued the game. _Let's see, if she…_

"Never have I ever kissed a Slytherin. Accidents and Spells gone wrong not included", he stated and immediately took his glass to drink.

It was obvious he had as his wife had been a Slytherin. Linda on the other hand smirked as she watched him drink and didn't touch her glass. He grinned: "Would have surprised me... but you never know..."

Linda was suddenly very keen to continue. "Speaking of: my turn. That pretty much narrows it down, unless you want to include Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Never have I ever kissed someone from Ravenclaw, accidents blah and all that", she said and watched him expectantly. He didn't move.

Neither did she. They both stared at their glasses for a while, then, Orion broke the silence. "You didn't, either?" he asked, unable to suppress the surprise in his voice.

She had been a Ravenclaw after all, and had never had anything with a boy of her house?

"Bunch of morons, the lot of them. Besides, Aidan was too busy lusting after Lucinda Carrow to notice any girls from his house", she babbled, and then looked at him.

"Well. Go ahead." He just shook his head. "To hear that out of your mouth..." he pondered.

"A dream come true, eh? Go on. Say it. One house left", Linda said, expectantly.

But Orion only smirked. "It's your question", and went on with another one.

"Never have I ever used sex to get what I want", he said, a bit too loudly.

He noticed that the entire pub had turned their heads in his direction but didn't care. Neither of them drank.

Linda smirked. "My, aren't we just the two saints", she said, smiling, and immediately asked the question he had purposefully left out.

"Okay, since you won't say it, I will: Never have I ever kissed someone from Hufflepuff", she stated and drained her glass in one gulp. _There you go_, he thought and took up his glass to drink.

This seemed to excite Linda. "Ye Gods! Who? I don't care about the rules, tell me right now or your next cider will contain veritaserum!"

Orion smirked. "I let you guess", it was funny to watch her act like an old gossip.

"We could shout the names at each other", she suggested, laughing out loud."On the count of three."

Orion stayed calm. "You know perfectly well I won't", he replied.

It was a good sign that he actually was getting drunk, because otherwise he would just tried her. Linda wasn't happy.

"Aw come on Yaxley, loosen up! Okay, uhm... what was her name... the one with the glasses. Patricia... Howard? Howards!" she guessed.

"Every wrong guess, you have to drink... so... no, not her", he said.

This evening was about drinking, wasn't it? "I guess you have... Benjamin Hayes?" he tried.

It was an obvious choice, because this Hufflepuff had been known to like to play with girls. But Linda wasn't part of them, as he found out: "Wrong. Can I ask further questions? Such as, was she in our year?"

He leaned back in his chair. "Yes, she was... this narrows it down to four, as it wasn't Patricia. What about you?" he replied.

"Yes, he was. Also four for you, since I made it my personal mission NOT to become one of Ben's countless affairs. Was she a blonde?" Lindas question made him frown.

"No... you can't mean... what's her name again? That... muggleborn? Nancy or something? No. No blonde. I married one." _That's enough_, he couldn't help thinking.

Linda started to hiccup. _Already?_ He thought, slightly amused, when she suddenly burst out: "Oh. My. God. No way! NO WAY! Lavinia McBean?"

At that, she started to giggle uncontrollably. He again felt all the glances of the entire pub on him. How embarrassing, he thought and looked at her bewildered. "What's so funny about that?"

„Nothing. Really. Very serious, the whole thing. So, how did that work out for you?" she babbled on and tried to stop her giggles.

She positively beamed at him. He didn't quite understand all the fuss she made about that. "Long story, istn't it? You have no idea..." he said dryly.

But Linda didn't give up so easily. "Oh, we have all night", she grinned.

Orion started getting defensive. "I only ever kissed her... once... because she was dating this other guy... Gryffindor... I think she married him... he's dead", he said, not bothering to think before he spoke.

Linda sighed. "We all lost people."

They both stared in their glasses. It seemed that the entire pub had become silent as well… as if they had been listening to their conversation attentively.

"Great, now I've killed the mood. And when you find out whom I kissed, you'll hate me even more", Linda broke the silence, still rather depressed.

He immediately understood. "You... didn't... no, not him?" he stammered. Linda looked directly into his eyes.

"Please guess wrong one more time. You'll need the drink."

"I can't believe it! Before or after me?" he exclaimed, watching her attentively. This was just too ironic.

"AFTER you, you git. Five minutes after the graduation ceremony, actually. Hey, those were the times when I would do anything to piss you off. And he makes me laugh. I like people who make me laugh", Linda explained and Orion was too drunk to stay mum: "Don't you still do that? Anything to piss me off?"

"Oh, of course. I wrote a whole book for the sole purpose of pissing you off. It was all part of my cunning plan. Best student of the year - pissing you off. Shagging Prewitt - pissing you off. Moving back home - pissing you off. Cheers", Linda went on and hit him hard on his shin under the table.

He gritted his teeth but didn't comment on this. Rather, he started babbling. "You... haven't been... a sssecret Sly-therin? - I have never done anything... to piss you off... except... the thing at the newspaper... and... everything else," he said and thought it all very logical.

"Yes, except the thing at the newspaper and everything else. There were times when I wanted... ah, what the hell. Never have I ever thought about using an Unforgivable on my fellow editor-in-chief," Linda said and took her glass.


	9. Chapter 9 Linda

When she drank, she heard a shocked gasp from Yaxley. "You... did?"He clearly didn't believe her.

"Well obviously I didn't go through with it, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here right now. But there were times when I wanted to hurt you. Badly."

As soon as that sentence was out, she regretted it. She didn't want to cook up old stories or talk about things from her past. Forgive what you can't forget, her mother always said, but she could do neither, it seemed. The pain from those years still welled up in her sometimes. But she had never planned for Yaxley to know about that.

He was getting drunker by the minute. His speech was already becoming slurred when he asked, "But... unforgivables... they're... unforgivable... Az-kaban, one way... just for me? I didn't know you were so in love with me."

Linda rolled her eyes and kicked his shin again under the table. "You're hopeless. And an idiot. A hopeless idiot. God, I need another drink. BRIAN!" she called and saw her fried hurrying over with more cider.

Meanwhile, Yaxley was still spinning crazy drunken theories about her motives. "Why... would you do that... if you weren't in love with me? - Oh... wait... Never have I ever... madly fallen in love with someone... aside... accidents with... certain charms."

It took Linda a moment to realize he had started another round of the game. And that he didn't drink. At first, she raised her glass, but then put it down again. He looked at her."You... neither?"

She shook her head. "Not madly, no. Rationally, conventiently, what-the-heck-it's-war-and-we-might-not-live-to-see-the-next-morning, yes. But madness is still on my To Do list," she finished with a smile.

Yaxley suddenly looked depressed. "At least... you didn't get... married," he murmured and played around with the napkins on the table.

Linda narrowed her eyes. "That sounds like you regret it. Was it one of those arranged things to ensure the purity of the bloodline?"

He just shrugged. "Well... what people do? It was war."

She blinked. "What, now war means "Go off and marry people at random"? Alright, not at random. But see, that's your mistake, right there: what people do. Who cares what people do?"

He still didn't look at her, but continued talking to the table. "Hell, how would you react... if your wife... o.k... your husband... told you he'd been having affairs for... practically since your wedding. And throwing you out just because you have... met an old friend from School?"

She didn't have an answer for that. Instead, she made a surprised sound. "Wait. WHAT?"

"What WHAT?" he echoed.

"Maybe I'm too drunk already, but did you just say Bryony kicked you out and you hooked up with... No way. No. Way," she giggled, almost against her will, "Oh, that's just priceless. Congratulations, you've done something completely impulsive. That's a first for you. I'm proud of you."

She reached over to him and patted his shoulder. Yaxley blinked, confused. "What? - Oh no... I didn't. We've always been just friends."

"Rrrrrright," Linda drawled and took another drink.

"Really. Well... apart one... passionate kiss... back in that broom closet where we always met," he admitted.

She grinned. "Ah, I see I wasn't the only one who discovered the usefulness of broom closets."

"You? And Prewitt?"

She rolled her eyes again. "No, me and Potter. Sheesh! Remember the desastrous graduation ceremony, which was largely your fault, by the way? He found me hiding in the closet. The rest is history."

Yaxley narrowed his eyes at her. "You tell me... it was my fault that you ever... hooked up with him?"

_Merlin, everything is about him_, Linda thought tiredly. Some things never changed. She tried to control her voice, but it was still a little shaky.

"Not everything is about you, Orion. It's not your fault he went to look for me. But you and your little fangirls were the reason I ran off to be alone. There's only so much a person can take. You guys could be pretty mean, you know."

A heavy silence settled over their table. Linda stared into her glass, not daring to look at Yaxley. The fact that she had used his first name for the first time in this conversation made her uncomfortable. He had always been Yaxley, the arrogant racist prick. Not Orion. When he spoke again, she looked up. He made a helpless gesture.

"I didn't mean to... o.k. I did... but I... wasn't all bad, you have to admit that. I... o.k. Never have I ever saved someones life ehm... even though I wouldn't have had to," he said.

She closed her eyes. A wave of images flooded her mind. The cold stone floor, the hooded figures, the Unforgivable Curse, the pain. The sudden stop, the command for the figures to leave. Phoebe's face under the mask, and the one word she spoke to her:

"Run."

More flashes, more images. A few weeks later, she had led the aurors to a meeting place of Death Eaters. The screams, the shouts, the noise as they broke down the door and searched every room. The silence as she had discovered Phoebe hiding in the back yard, knowing she would be thrown into Azkaban when the aurors found her there. The one word she had spoken to her in return, mirroring Phoebe's actions from a few weeks earlier:

"Run."

She had let her escape. She still didn't know if it had been the right thing to do.

Linda took a drink.

Yaxley raised an eyebrow, then took a drink himself. "Surprised?" he asked when he put down the glass again.

She nodded. "A little. Yes. Are you still sober enough to give me details?"

He leaned back against his chair. "How do you think I ended up being friends with Lavinia... in the first place?"

Linda placed a hand over her heart in mock admiration. "Awww. That's so romantic. That's a whole new side of you, really. You managed to hide it quite well."

He didn't even acknowledge her sarcasm. "You've never asked Prewitt about his... or my past, have you?" he inquired instead.

She shrugged. "We don't really talk much apart from "You left your dirty Quidditch clothes on the kitchen floor again", you know." After a pause, she added, "What about your past?"

"Oh... nothing of importance," he continued, "You know he's a pureblood, I guess? After your bloody book..."

She threw him a sharp look. "This really bothers you, doesn't it. This book. What does that have to do with Lynx?"

"I asked you something," he snapped, his tone suddenly sharp. "Do you know he's a pureblood?"

She lost her patience and snapped back. "Of course I know! I am too, in case you forgot. So? What's the big deal?"

Yaxley looked at her with that the same contempt he had always shown back in school. "You never got hints, even if they were thrown at you, did you?"

"Enlighten me, master," she sighed.

"We were friends... before his father died and he became all... wrong."

Linda blinked a couple of times, shook her head, put down her glass and leaned closer to Yaxley to make sure she had heard right. "What do you mean, 'wrong'?"


	10. Chapter 10 Orion

"Wanting to be... muggleborn and all", Orion explained, with a dragging voice.

He wanted to lift his glass again when he saw her shaking her head in confusion. She couldn't seriously believe? "I... what? He told me he didn't want anyone to think he was racist, but what does that have to do with you or his dad?"

Orion smirked. He had no idea what Lynx had told other people. "He was like me... before his father died. Even more... extreme than me."

"You're lying", she said, pointing at him and shaking her head more fervidly than before.

"You're drunk and you're lying." He was confused.

Why was it so hard to believe? Orion remembered only too well how many times he had clashed with Lynx in various forms because of their opposed views about the purity of blood and the right attitude. He tried to sit upright again, even though the drink made it difficult.

"I'm not. What do you think why he hated me so much? Just because?" he asked, and thought Linda extremely naïf.

He started to get annoyed by this discussion. Linda still couldn't believe anything. "He could NEVER be like that. Never. You're joking," she said, determined and took up her glass again.

Orion lost his nerves. "Believe what you want... he's not as innocent as he wants people to think. That's all I'm saying", he replied her and drained another glass.

He tried to look determined, but it wasn't easy. Linda was silent, apparently in deep thought. All of a sudden, she asked: "How did his father die? He never told me."

Orion shrugged automatically, showing that he wasn't immensely interested in the subject anymore. "Murdered. But I don't know which side did it... don't know if he knows", was all he said.

Linda looked at him puzzled. "Which side? I don't understand, was he fighting against Death Eaters or something?"

Orion smirked. How on earth could one person be so naïf? He lifted his glass once again and watched her over the rims of it. "Are you really that thick?" He slowly shook his head. "I would rather put it the other way around", he sneered, unable to suppress a rather vile grin.

She didn't say anything anymore. She drained her glass, waited for another one and stared at him. It was quite unnerving. He got irritated by it. "What are you staring at?"

Linda got defensive. "I just... he never told me. Why didn't he ever tell me?"

Orion looked at her astonished for a moment and then leaned back. "Honestly... why should he have?"

"Why should he have? Because you're honest to your friends, dammit!" Linda smashed the Glass on the table.

It was a wonder it didn't shatter. "I'll have to talk to him about this next time he comes in", she said, with a determined look on her face and Orion watched her with growing suspicion.

"Next time? You... still see him?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Linda didn't answer – she just blushed.

"I don't believe it", he said, shaking his head. Linda glanced at him, trying hard to look innocent.

"What?" He had to admit that it made senses –sort of – that his two main rivals at school had become a… he couldn't figure it out, so, he began slowly.

"You... and Prewitt, you are... what exactly? How do you call that?" He was curious. It hadn't seemed as if Linda was in a relationship up to now.

Linda sighed. "I don't know how you call it. We see each other from time to time. We used to be... a thing during the war, but you know how it goes with relationships that start in times of great conflict and all he's not the domestic type. And neither am I. So we just visit each other for short periods of time."

She took up her glass again and shrugged. "But it's love, I guess. A very weird kind", she explained and Orion didn't understand if he was honest.

He didn't know how it went with relationships that started in times of great conflict. True, he had married Bryony, but that was another story. He didn't know about love, at any rate. Not really.

"You're weird", he stated and took another deep gulp of his cider. This conversation was depressing.

"Spoken like a true philosopher", she said, lifting her glass.

Orion got carried away by the mood, sighed and took up his glass as well. "At least he didn't show you the door just because you've interviewed your former best friend... and didn't recognize her."

Linda looked at him, slightely surprised. "Wow, that bad?

Orion sighed again. He was alcoholised – otherwise he certainly wouldn't have told Linda what was bothering him. "Well, I invited her to dinner, too, but... just because... I'm a bad person."

Linda looked at him, pretending to be serious but telling him sarcastically: "oh yes, a terrible person, not letting your wife step all over you and reconnection with a friend. Shame on you".

He shook his head, feeling sad. _You have no idea_. "I didn't mean that... I mean, I haven't even recognized her and I have asked her about her dead husband... for the Prophet", he explained miserably.

Linda couldn't suppress a comment. "Sensitive as ever, I see", she said, Orion didn't even react to that.

He was too deep in thought. "Did you know she had become a famous Quidditchplayer?" he asked her, staring into his glass. Linda did the same.

"I don't care much about Quidditch, but Lynx told me, yes", she replied, shrugging.

Orion drained another glass, put it down with a clang. "I didn't even know! Can you imagine that?" he exclaimed and seemed to realize suddenly what he was doing.

"Why am I telling you this?"

Linda smirked. "Because you're drunk, I suppose. As am I. Though not as drunk as you, because I get to practice more. But it's quite adorable."

He became suspicious. "What's adorable, exactly?" he said and watched her reaction attentively.

She gestured at him, showing that she, too, was a bit tipsy already. "A prick like you, sitting here, pouring your heart out to the person you probably hated the most in school. Also, you can be pretty funny. You should loosen up more often."

He had to think this over to figure out if it was an insult or a compliment. "Am I?" he asked, still confused.

Linda continued drinking, a big smile on her face. He didn't like it. For him, the silence became awkward. He hated it. He stared at his glass again.

"Have you ever seriously messed up something? I bet you haven't..." he said, sounding bitter.

Linda looked at him. "I mess up all the time, Orion", she said, in a serious voice.

They had arrived on first name's term now. "Oh, not like me, you haven't..." Orion shook his head to underline his statement. His entire life suddenly seemed to be one big mess.

Linda looked at him, smirking. "Try me. Go on. What's said in the pub, stays in the pub. I promise."

Orion sighed audibly. "I'm currently sharing my parent's house with two fucking house elves and nobody else, you can't even imagine how depressing that is."

He took up his glass again, drank and put it down again, slowly. "At least you've had the senses not to get married just because your parents expected it of you." Miserably, he looked at Linda.

"Geez, this marriage of yours is beginning to sound like hell on earth. Why did you do that to yourself?" she answered and watched him sympathetically.

He sighed again. "It seemed reasonable at the time, I liked her... but..." he stopped.

"But?" she continued.

He took another drink."Never more than that. Merlin, Linda, have you any idea how it is to always keep up appearances?"

The question had probably bothered him for quite some time. He had lived in constant fear that someone could discover one of his secrets. And he was just about to tell them to one of his worst enemies at school and he didn't care.

Linda shook her head. "No. I can't say that I do. I have to look presentable for book signings and such, but... I have no idea how you did all that and not go crazy?" she asked.

He stared into his glass again. "Had no time going crazy... at least work's doing well... if they would stop talk about that stupid interview... famous quidditchplayer... messed that up, too."

A little clumsy she patted his arm. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

This didn't calm him down. "Probably the only friend I've ever had... and what did I do? Mess up. Or why doesn't she answer my letters?"

He was drunk enough to spill out what had been bothering him most this week.

"Well she's travelling a lot. Maybe she didn't get them?" Linda suggested.

Orion looked into his glass, feeling miserable. "You don't get it... it was the fifth anniversary of her husbands murder and I asked her... how she felt about that... in front of everyone at the press conference."

This got even Linda in surprise. "Wow. That's... a whole new level of messed up."

Orion shook his head. "Oh... did you think that was all of it?" he said, in a weenie voice.

"There's more?" she asked, honestly surprised.

"Of course there's more", he laid his head on the table, clutching to his glass.

"I... went to her apartment, or rather intruded, after my wife... you know... and um... sort of blamed her... for that. But-"

Linda stared at him for a moment. "You WENT to her APARTMENT? And BLAMED her? Phew. Thank God. For a moment, I thought you weren't the Orion I knew", she exclaimed and didn't realize the entire pub was again watching them with great interest.

Orion's head was still resting on the table. "I didn't mean to!"

"What, your legs started walking all by themselves?" Linda snarled, unable to hide her amusement.

"Go on. It's not funny. I didn't mean to blame her... it just... sort of, slipped out", he gave back, trying to sit upright again.

He failed.

"What did she do? I hope she used her Quidditch skills to kick your arse out of her apartment", mused Linda.

She would certainly have done that herself – Orion had no doubt about that. But Lavinia hadn't. "She's a Hufflepuff. Of course she didn't. I left... on my own", he explained.

"And then what? Did you apologize? PLEASE tell me you apologized", Linda asked loudly.

Even the almost deaf old shepherd at the bar was watching her now. Orion answered defensively: "I've sent her about four letters but she didn't react. She hates me, right?" Again, he felt the urge to bang his head on the table. It was all lost.

Linda patted his arm again. "No she doesn't. I hate you and everything you stand for, but she doesn't. Go to her apartment, find out when she gets back, buy a bunch of flowers and talk to her", she really tried to help him now.

But he wasn't helpful. "I can't possibly do that", he cried, oblivious of their audience.

Linda looked straight into his eyes. "Why the hell not?"

He hedged. „It's humiliating."


	11. Chapter 11 Linda

Linda bestrode her chair and folded her arms around the back of the chair. She mustered Orion attentively. "Don't you think it was humilitating for her, that press conference and the scene you made at her apartment?" she asked him after a pause.

"I didn't know it was her at the press conference, otherwise I wouldn't have asked... probably..." he answered, obviously not getting the point.

There was a strong urge to hit her head against the table now. Why the hell was she so upset about this? Why was she even _interested_ in this? It's not like she was friends with him and therefore concerned about his well-being. Or that of his wife.

"Let me tell you something. You are the biggest idiot I've ever met, and that's saying something, considering I'm friends with Prewitt. Here. Have another drink." With that, she shoved another glass into his hands, almost spilling the drink.

He eyed the drink for a moment, then closed his hands around the glass and stared at it miserably. "So? You mean to say... that because I may have humiliated her... I have to humiliate me too... what for?"

Linda threw her arms up in desperation. "To say you're SORRY! Is that so hard for you? Have you never said sorry to somebody? "I'm sorry I hurt you, I've been an idiot, please accept my apology"?"

Then she sighed. "Oh my. I get the feeling that I'm too drunk for counselling right now and you're too drunk to accept any kind of advice I could give you. Can't we go back to asking each other embarassing questions? Like, where will you stay tonight? The only bed and breakfast is closed off-season, and I'm certainly not letting you apparate in this condition."

Yaxley didn't even look up, just shrugged. "I don't know. Here?"

She turned her head to the bar, pointing at Yaxley while she did so. "Brian. Can he sleep here?"

Brian shook his head furiously. "HELL no. No tourists in the pub. I've had enough of those."

Then he grinned. "Why don't you take him?"

A round of laughter from the locals showed that almost everyone had overheard their little exchange. Linda rolled her eyes and turned back to Yaxley, who was gesturing at her.

"No way," he slurred, "I can't sleep with you. I mean... at your place."

"Now I'm insulted," she replied, pretending to be serious.

Then she leaned forward. "Seriously, where WILL you stay? You'll have to sober up, this'll take at least twelve hours. You have to stay somewhere."

He shrugged again, looking helpless and a little lost. "Don't know... outside?"

Linda shook her head. "Right. No way. It's autumn, you'll freeze. You're coming with me. You look like you could use a good night's sleep in a cozy cottage and a hearty breakfast sometime around noon when I get up."

Yaxley sighed. "You're too good to me."

Linda wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or honest. Or both. She took a sip from her cider. "Yeah, don't know what's gotten into me. I'm clearly not thinking straight." Then she started to hiccup again. Yaxley grinned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're drunk."

Linda pouted. "Am not."

"Yes you are!" Brian chimed in, "And I'm closing in ten minutes. Why don't you two get home and sober up - and this goes for everyone else too!" he called to the others.

Shuffling, people getting up from their chairs and the clanking of glasses as they were being carried back to the bar indicated their obedience. Linda got up, swayed a little and then seized Yaxley by the shoulders, pulling him upright. She put an arm around his waist, steadying him, and together they steered towards the door.

"Young man!" came the call from the bar.

Yaxley turned around so fast that Linda almost lost her balance. Brian was leaning against the bar, his heavy frame making the wood creak. He was staring at Yaxley with a mixture of distrust, anger and amusement, a look only a drunken Irishman could muster.

"If you hurt her, we will kill you and make it look like an accident."

Loud murmurs from everyone else in the pub, showing their agreement, made Yaxley blink rapidly with confusion and possibly fear. Linda giggled and shoved him out the door. "Good night everyone!"

They staggered outside. The chilly October air cut into Linda's lungs and cleared her head. She pulled Yaxley forward. "Come on, move. This way."

He let himself get pulled along. "Where rrr we goin'?"

He wasn't even bothering to form coherent sentences by now. Linda smiled. "We're going home. My place. Come on, it's about one and a half miles. Watch out for the st... yes, those steps."

She caught him before he could fall. He swayed for a moment, then looked at her in confusion.

"You... mean... wwwalk? Can - t weapparate?"

Linda shrugged. "We could, but we'd end up all over Kerry. Well, you certainly would. It's too dangerous. And it's really not that far."

"Broomsticks? Flooooo pp-owder?" He wasn't giving up so easily.

"ORION! Will you MOVE already?" To help him with that, she went from pulling to shoving him along the road.

Her patience was wearing thin, she was cold, tired and drunk. And Yaxley was now clinging to her with more force than ever, a concentrated frown on his face. "I... move..."

Not bothering with an answer, Linda just went on, half-carrying her former arch enemy through the countryside.

"Wheeeere r we goin'?"

_Oh dear, not again. _"We. Are. Going. Home. To the nice house of Miss Emerson," Linda sighed, feeling like the mother of a two-year-old, "Miss Emerson has a nice little cottage riiiiight over there, with a warm cozy bed where Mister Yaxley will go nighty-night."

Yaxley beamed. "Rrright. Commming."

And promptly fell down, ruining his trousers in the mud. Linda helped him back up and continued their way until they came to a smaller, secondary road which wasn't paved anymore.

"Okay, turn right here... no no no, the other right! Opposite of left! Good man. On you go." Patting his back, she steered him in the right direction. Yaxley eyed the cows in the field suspiciously.

"What r youuuuu loooking at?" he challenged the cows.

The road was making a wide turn, but Linda decided to go through the field instead of around it. They would just have to climb that little stone wall. "Come on, we're taking a shortcut," she said encouragingly.

Yaxley wasn't convinced. "Short-cuts make loooong delays."

Linda was going to warn him about the wall, but now she didn't. With an evil little smirk, she watched as he tripped and fell. _Serves you right, you git._

Yaxley was lying face down in the field, a confused "Hu?" his only reaction.

Linda's glee turned into desperation. She couldn't even get proper revenge because the guy was much too drunk to realize anything. "Oh for heaven's sake," she sighed, "are you alright?"

Yaxley waved. "Allll right. Noooo matter. Where r we goin'?"

"I already... never mind. Here, take my hand," she said and bent down to help him up.

He grabbed her arm rather than her hand and tried to pull himself upright with a rather ungraceful movement. When he was almost standing again, Linda lost her balance and fell, pulling Yaxley with her. He landed on top of her, blinked a couple of times, then mumbled, "Wooops, sorry..."

"Get off me this very instant, or I will use an Unforgivable," Linda hissed and cursed herself for ever trying to help him.

Like a scared animal, he struggled to his feet and brought some distance between himself and Linda. Then he looked as if he was going to cry. The distinct feeling of dealing with a toddler came back to Linda.

"You r mean," Yaxley sniffed.

Linda got up. "Honey, you don't want to see me when I'm really mean, trust me," she replied.

Yaxley just stared at her. She noticed the amount of mud and grass on his clothes and smirked. "Well, that shirt is ruined."

"What?"

_St. Patrick, grant me patience._

"You'll see. We need to get off this field. Can you walk?"

"Course," he slurred and swayed a little. Linda put her arm around his waist again, maneuvering him across the field towards the cottage.

"If anyone had told me this ten years ago... watch out for that puddle..."

Yaxley watched her with a kind of innocent fascination. "What pudd-"

SPLAT.

"That puddle," Linda deadpanned, reached down to pull Yaxley out, lost her balance and landed next to him, her clothes completely soaked.

She wanted to scream when Yaxley beamed at her again as if seeing her for the first time this night. "HI LLLLLLLLinda. What r you doin' here?"

Good question, she thought to herself. What AM I doing here? Then she noticed the extent of mud on her.

"Oh will you look at that! That was my favorite pair of jeans!" She sighed.

"Alright, let's go. We need to get out of these wet clothes."

"Do we?"

_If I ever have children, their early years will be a walk in the park after this._

"We do. Trust me, just this once."

"Okay."

Without further resistance, Yaxley let Linda pull, push and prod him along until they had finally reached the cottage. It was dark, the garden plants a black pattern against a slightly lighter cottage wall. Linda was trying to steady Orion and open the door to her cottage at the same time and failed miserably. Finally, she leaned Orion against the wall while she searched for the doorknob. The door swung open and she stepped inside, leaving Orion standing at the threshold.

He was looking around with interest and asking, "Were r we?"

"My house. It's not much, but it's home, as the cliché goes. Mind your head, the door is pretty low.." she warned him, but it was too late.

"Ouch! Small place.. is it yours?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's mine. No house elves though, I'm afraid. Lumos."

A warm glow filled the room. The cottage was old and consequently very small. Once a family of seven had lived here, now it was considered barely enough room for two. A small open kitchen with an old-fashioned iron stove to the left and a fireplace with a couch to the right made up the only bigger room of the cottage. One bookshelf, in true Ravenclaw fashion, took up the entire living room wall. Every available surface was covered with photographs of friends and relatives. At the other end of the room, a mini-hallway led off to the bedroom and a small bathroom as well as a storage room which was more of an oversized closet than an actual room. There was no second floor, no cellar and no house elves.

Yaxley eyed his surroundings critically. "Rrreally small..."

In any other situation, she would have been insulted. But now, she was just amused.

"Size doesn't matter, Yaxley," she said. He didn't even blink.

Her bedroom was, as the rest of the cottage, small. Very small. There was barely enough room for the closet, a small drawer and her bed. It was not enough room for two people who were completely drunk and trying not to be in each other's way. They both staggered inside where Yaxley sighed happily and tried to collapse on the bed. Linda jumped in front of him, preventing him from doing just that.

"Hey hey hey hey hey! Don't you dare! You are NOT getting in there with those clothes. I paid a fortune for that quilt!" she shouted, pushing past him and rummaging around in her closet until she came up with a pair of pyjama pants and a t-shirt from Lynx for him.

Yaxley steadied himself against the wall, being a very obedient guest. "Okay, okay. I stay here... "

She threw the clothes at him. "Put these on. And don't ask me who these belong to, because Merlin knows I will pay for this in the morning."

Not bothering with telling him to look away or to leave the room, she simply turned her back to Yaxley, got out of her clothes and put on her pyjama.

A strangled "Why?" made her look around.

Yaxley was holding the clothes in his hand, completely oblivious to the fact that she just had stripped right in front of him.

"Because those clothes, my friend, belong to your worst enemy. Enjoy," she smiled.

Suddenly the obedience was gone and the toddler was back. "I'm not... putting them on," he pouted, eyeing the clothes with distrust.

"Yes, you will," Linda insisted.

"Won't," came the defiant answer.

"Orion..." Her voice had a dangerous tone. _Don't make Mommy count to three..._

That did the trick. "Okay okay, I'lll do it," he sighed and made a show of slowly getting out of his wet clothes and putting on the dry ones.

Then he held his ruined outfit out to Linda. "What with those?"

Linda picked up her wand from her dresser. "Let me try something.

She pointed the wand at the clothes and let out a loud, but slurred, "Scourgify!" Maybe her aim was bad or maybe it was the fact that she was drunk, but the pile of clothes ripped in two and started smoking a little.

Linda grinned sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry."

Orion gave her an angry look and pulled out his own wand. "Let me try."

It was a desaster waiting to happen. But like a true desaster, terrible as it was, you just couldn't look away. Linda sat down at the bed, crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched as Yaxley aimed at the clothes. Or at least tried to. "Scouuuurgi--"

The smoke intensified, and invisible hands seemed to rip the remains of the clothes to shreds. They were completely beyond repair now. Linda jumped up from the bed and grabbed Yaxley's arm, trying to get a hold of the wand before he destroyed anything else in the room.

"Give me that!" Of course he didn't let go. Struggling to stay on his feet, he fought against her. "No, it's mine!"

_Ah, toddler mode again._

"Don't... be..." A shove, a kick, an attempt to wrench the wand from his hand, "ridiculous..."

Then it happened. They lost their balance and fell onto the bed. Much like earlier in the field, Yaxley landed on top of her, but now there was a notable absence of mud, grass and cold water. And clothes. Linda stared up at Yaxley who in turn stared at her. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that this was her bed, they were both not wearing very much, and there was a warm pleasant feeling the alcohol still gave her, a mixture of "Whatever", "To hell with it" and "Cozy!".

Yaxley looked down at her, a terrified look on his face as if he was afraid she would hex him.

"Sssorry. Didn't mean..." His voice trailed off when she put her hand against his cheek.


	12. Chapter 12a Orion

Orion woke up, suddenly, probably because of some noise. "Ahhhh, my head", he moaned and tried to open his eyes.

It didn't work right away. His head was hammering with pain. He didn't see anything at first, mercifully the room was still dim. Orion had no clue where he was and with a headache surely made in hell it took some time to start thinking. His memory was all blurred. Suddenly, he registered that someone was watching him at the doorpost of this tiny bedroom. He turned his head, slowly, painfully and saw… Linda Emerson? How on earth had that happened?

Linda was grinning. "Why, good morning Mr Yaxley", she said, in a loud and cheerful voice that his head started pulsating even more.

_What the_… Despite his headache, he tried desperately to remember how he had ended up here, but he couldn't. He was shocked. Linda was wearing very short pyjamas; blue shorts and a white top to be precise. It was decent but still not what he would have put on in front of someone he didn't know very well… like worst enemies?

This couldn't be true. Some part in his brain decided this had to be a nightmare. He closed his eyes. The headache lessened a bit. He took a deep breath and reluctantly opened his eyes again. It was still the same room, though he now couldn't recognize the small wardrobe between the two windows. And Linda was still there, too.

"What, no "good morning"? Something wrong?", she said, still loudly and with a devilish grin on her face.

"hm?" he moaned. "How...?" His head was too heavy to say more than that.

Would this nightmare never end? She strut to the bed, matter-of-factly, asking: "Awww, you don't remember?"

He was confused. _Is she telling me…?,_ he thought, rather quickly, considering his pain. He tried to answer but wasn't able to speak much. "I... no. Remember... what?! No... we didn't? Did we?"

"Oh yes, we did. Lots of it", she told him, smiling broadly while she opened the curtains.

Blinding sunlight came floating into the room. Orion pinched his eyes in pain and held his hand in front of his face. "Close those curtains! Ah, my head!" he cried, sounding weenies again.

Linda laughed. "Oh, you poor thing", she said and closed the curtains again.

Then, she jumped on the rather small bed (big for one person but all too small for two, in Orion's opinion), looked at him compassionately and asked: "Shall I kiss it better?"

"What?!" he exclaimed, despite his headache he was suddenly alert.

He tried to move away from her and nearly fell off the bed. He cold only just clutch to the bedpost and laid himself back where he had been. "Have you lost your senses or what?" he sneered", still holding his aching head.

"Okay, come on. You need to get up. I have Slughorn's Anti-Hangover Potion ready. It's brewing on the stove", Linda said cheerfully and took his hand to help him get up.

He looked at her sceptically. "Can't you bring it here?" he asked, because he didn't think he would be able to walk with a headache like this.

Linda stopped pulling. "Breakfast in bed? Lovely!" she laughed and practically bounced out of the room.

Orion watched her leaving and closed his eyes again. If he could only remember… after a short while, Linda came back, holding a tray with a steaming teacup. It had a flowery pattern and looked old-fashioned and silly, in Orion's eyes. He glanced at the cup, confused.

"What's that?" he asked her, sceptically.

She raised an eyebrow. "An Anti-Hangover Potion. Cures all side effects instantly. Well, most of them. Drink up", she told him and held out the cup.

He didn't take it. "You're not going to poison me, are you?" he asked, still looking very sceptical.

What was he doing in the bedroom of his former worst enemy? One of them at any rate.

"After everything that happened last night? Not likely", she hinted, seemingly full of glee.

She took a small sip out of the cup to demonstrate him it was alright. "There. See?"

He sighed and drank up the potion. Immediately, he felt the effects. His headache lessened and after a few minutes he felt fit and healthy. But his memory was still more than blurred. It was blank. He glanced at Linda, embarrassed, not daring to tell her directly he had a black-out.

"Everything that happened last night? er..." he began and saw Lindas mood trop.

She seemed crestfallen. "You really don't remember, do you?" She said, sighing perhaps a little too heavy.

"Er... no?" he replied and lowered his head.

Whose pyjamas was he wearing? And the T-Shirt? There was a writing on it _,I love women - are you next?_' How did he end up wearing those things?! He blushed. Could it get any more embarrassing? And all the while, Linda was observing him, grinning.

"Sorry. I had to give you another one since yours was... well... ripped to shreds", she explained.

He turned around, gazing at her in shock. '_Ripped to shreds?'_ he thought, _‚does she mean… no, she can't mean..?'_

He thankfully couldn't go through with the thought, because Linda was leaning towards him, saying: "As for last night... It's really sad you don't remember. We had lots of fun."

She smiled at him seductively and got up. He almost gulped audibly.

"By the way, breakfast is ready", she said, leaving the small bedroom.

He desperately tried to remember, something, _anything_, about last night. But he couldn't. It was all a big black hole. All he was sure of was that he had entered that pub, met Linda and started playing this drinking game. She had asked him about cheating in potions, but that was as far as his memory went. The rest was blurred and later blank. He got up reluctantly, deciding to face whatever that horrible day had in store for him.

Linda was already standing in the kitchen – can you call this small room a kitchen even? – still smiling broadly. "Coffee or tea?"

He automatically replied "tea, please" and added in a slightly desperate voice: "Can't you just tell me how I ended up here, please?"

"Wellllll..." she began, while she was pouring him some tea.

""We met at the pub, we got drunk, I took you home since you were absolutely sloshed, we pratically fell onto the bed..." she explained, in an unnervingly calm, dry voice. She came towards him, handed him the cup of tea and whispered: "The rest is history."

Orion gladly accepted the cup. "It can't be... why would we do that?" he said, taking a sip and slowly shaking his head.

He couldn't believe; he didn't want to believe, that he had actually…

"Because we were both lonely, miserable and in desperate need of some fun", answered Linda, as if there was nothing regrettable about this.

This wasn't how Orion saw it. However lonely he had been, it was hard to imagine that he would have done something like… this.

He shook his head again and tried hard to at least getting a clue about last night. At first he barely realized that Linda had pushed him to the table and into a chair. "Sit down. Eat something", she said placidly, patting his arm.

Orion stared at her, speechless at first. "It's all your fault", he finally said bluntly.

"What, exaclty, is my fault, Orion?" Linda smirked at him.

"You proposed that stupid drinking game, for one thing", he stated and began to put sausages, beans, eggs, bacon and a lot of toast onto his plate and ate without asking her first. He had realized he was starving all of a sudden – and as long as he was eating he could distract himself from thinking too much about what had happened.

But Linda wasn't through with him. "And you participated. Eagerly, if I may say so. I didn't force you to drink a single cider, it was all your decision", she went on with the conversation.

He shook his head and between two bites he said: "But that didn't bring me into your... how do you call it, here?"

"It's a cottage, dear. My cottage. It's home, and last night you particularly liked the bedroom", she replied, smirking, like it was all extremely funny. He didn't see it that way.

"I don't even remember leaving that Pub! And I certainly don't like you. Why should I... come here?" Orion went on, still eating.

For a moment, Linda lost it. "You were DRUNK. Sloshed. Pissed. Absolutely, gloriously drunk, Orion. I couldn't let you apparate in that condition, and all bed and breakfasts are closed off-season", she explained. "I half-carried you here and ... well. Here we are. And just for the record: I despise you and everything you stand for", she paused, looking at him and smirked again broadly.

"Still, the sex was pretty good."

Orion had stopped eating. He stared at Linda. "I certainly didn't consent to that!"

She leaned back in her chair, folded her arms in front of her chest and said, slowly, still smirking slightly: "Could have fooled me."

Then, she suddenly got up, excused herself and practically sprinted to the bathroom. Orion watched her leaving, rather confused for a moment before he went on with the breakfast. When she came back, he glared at her.

"You tricked me!" he said.

She whipped something out of her eyes. "Into what, exactly?"

"Into your bed", he said, because he was too embarrassed to say '_having sex with you.'_

"Oh believe me, you found that all by yourself!" she smirked again and continued.

"Besides, do you really think I would go through all the trouble of getting you drunk and dragging you here just to sleep with you? Please." She shook her head, but rather amused than angry.

"Apparently you did", was all he could muster.

It was clearly her fault, there was no other possibility.

"I didn't plan this, if that's what you mean. It just happened. And it's not like you didn't enjoy it..." she shrugged.

"You didn't plan it, perhaps, but you let it happen! I don't remember anything!" he cried, a bit louder than he had intended perhaps, but still.

He had lost control, so it would have been her responsibility to prevent it – that's how he saw it now.

"That's because you were pretty drunk. And yes, I let it happen. Because it was two o'clock in the morning and I wasn't in the mood to hex you just because you wanted to cuddle", she explained him and he again stared at her, getting angry.

"Are you telling me it's all my fault?"

"No, I'm trying to tell you that this is as much your fault as it is mine. And to be honest, it wasn't the worst night I ever had. So I'm not mad at you", she said, sounding honest, but he didn't want to hear it.

"Am I supposed to be grateful for that or what?" he snapped.

It was ridiculous. Was she telling him that having had sex while they were completely drunk was something that one could just overlook and go on?

"You could at least stop calling it a mistake and trying to blame me for it. Relax, Yaxley. No harm done. Except for your shirt", she continued after she had read his face.

He shook his had, again snapping angrily: "No harm done?! I'm a married man! It's not like I could simply go out, getting drunk and sleep with my enemies and pretend nothing has happened!"

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, Bryony showed you the door! At least that's what you told me after the fifth cider. Granted, it could all have been part of your elaborate and cunning plan to get me into bed..." she snapped back.

Orion didn't believe his ears. "If it had been such an elaborate plan, don't you think it would have been more cunning to actually _remember_ what I did?" he sneered, paused, and as an afterthought: "and she hasn't shown me the door"

"Oh, she hasn't? Well then you're in deep trouble, mister. Actually, we both are, once my boyfrind finds out. And he will", Linda said, threateningly.

Orion was confused. "Your boyfriend? You've got a boyfriend?"

He would have thought she was single, it all looked like it and hadn't she told him she felt lonely, that's why they had ended up in bed together?

She shook her head. "Oh boy, you really don't remember", she paused, before asking: "Whose t-shirt do you think you're wearing?"

He was still confused. "Yours?" he suggested.

"It's a little too big for me", she pointed out.

Orion again stared at her. Of course it would be rather unusual for Linda to have a T-Shirt saying _'I love women, are you next?'_ But… in an act of desperation, he asked her: "Please - tell me this is all just a nightmare."

Linda smiled devilishly. "I'm afraid not. You are really here. See?"

She pinched his arm.

"That hurt!" Orion screamed, took a deep breath and started again.

"o.k. what have I told you last night?" he asked, expecting the worst.

Linda smirked. "That I am the most beautiful and passionate woman you have ev", she began, "oh you mean at the pub? Nothing in particular, just the last ten years, condensed version."

"Can't you be a bit more specific? This is a catastrophe", he sighed.

It felt as if he would never get out of this situation.

"How much more specific than 'we got drunk, we had sex, here we are' can I get? And when said boyfriend finds out, well... you're toast."

Was she threatening him? This boyfriend of hers started to sound like someone he had no interest in meeting whatsoever. Orion shifted uneasily in his chair.

"He won't find out, will he? My wife... she's... what have I told you last night... more specifically than... what?" he stammered.

For a moment it seemed like he wanted to leave immediately. But he had to know. Linda lowered her voice threateningly. "He will find out. He... has his ways. And then it's "avada kedavra" Orion Yaxley. Unless, of course..." she said with a meaningful glance.

Inside, Orion was panicking. He tried to keep a poker face, but failed miserably.

"Unless what?" he asked.

Linda got up. Orion watched her, but was too surprised when she sat down on his lap and put her arms around his neck. He realized he was sitting upright and more and more tense.

"Unless you loosen up and stop acting so goddamn serious all the time", she said, looking him straight into the eyes and grinning maliciously.

He became even tenser. "Could you stop doing that?" he said, obviously embarrassed, but unable to simply push her off his lap.

She positively beamed at him. "Oh, but it's so much fun", she said, laughing with glee before she continued: "Setting you up like this. Because... I have not been entirely honest about last night."

She smirked. He couldn't help but stare at her.

"Would you mind telling me the truth, then? Or... don't I want to know?" he finally asked contritely, fearing the worst.

"I feel terrible about this", she said, making a compunctious face. "No wait", she paused. "I don't. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm going to let you off the hook now. I just need to check something FIRST", Linda stated and smirked at Orion in a way that made him feel confused and uncomfortable at the same time.

She tightened her hug and unexpectedly kissed him.

He was too surprised to react in any way.


	13. Chapter 12b Orion

As if nothing had happened, she stood up and nodded, apparently lost in thought. "Yep, still a terrible kisser", she said, more to herself than to him.

"Anyway, I lied. Nothing happened last night. We got drunk, we came here, I slept on the couch. Oh, and you snore", she continued, turned on her heels and put the teacups into the sink.

Orion was unable to move. It took some time for him to stir again. "Are you completely insane?" he exclaimed. That was exactly how he felt, like he had landed in a madhouse somewhere.

Linda didn't stop her labours or look at him. All she did was slightly shaking her head.

"Just in the mood for a little fun. It was worth it. All of it. Even sleeping on that damn couch", she began to laugh hard. "You really believed me, didn't you?"

His assumption that she was actually mad seemed to confirm itself. "So, are you telling the truth now? I don't remember, of course I believed you", he answered, blushing slightly. He felt the urge to get out of this terrible situation again.

"On my honour as an Irishwoman: everything I told you is true, except the part were we had mind-blowing, earth-shattering sex. Even if we wanted, we were too drunk to do anything. You slept in my bed, I took the couch after you started to snore. We didn't even touch after 3 a.m.." she explained.

It sounded matter-of-factly, but in essence honest. So, this meant she had fooled him? They hadn't done it? He was still staring at her, and whispered, more to himself. "This is so embarrassing."

"Relax, no one will ever know", she said, grinning again.

This was no consolation. He felt shattered. "You know..." he said.

This was enough. She stemmed her hands against her hips and watched him sternly.

"And you do too. So? What happens in the cottage, stays in the cottage. Iron rule of the Emerson household. You'll have to trust me", she told him.

"Again", he finished her sentence. It had slipped out before he could help it.

Linda grinned. "Hey, for all I know, you could go out and ruin my reputation as well. So I guess we're on even grounds", she put in.

But this didn't satisfy Orion. "I don't remember what you told me last night... and worse, I don't remember what I told you. Can this get any worse?" he asked, sarcastically.

But apparently, Linda wanted to top it: "Sure. Want me to owl my boyfriend?" she was now whipping the dishes clean and continued in a chattering style.

"I learned a few interesting things about you and your marriage, but nothing that could help me plot your downfall. Not that I am. Plotting your downfall, I mean." How he hated her when she was doing this. He glared at her, but only a little.

"So, I guess you won't tell me, then?" he asked.

She put down the dish towel and leaned against the sink, watching him. She had a slightly pitying look on her face. "From what you told me, you're a lonely guy who just got kicked out by his bitch of a wife. You're trying so hard to keep up appearances that you've forgotten how to have fun and enjoy life. You're still an idiot, of course. But I think I understand a little better why you're such an arse to people around you", she explained, and was looking dead serious.

His jaw dropped. Orion couldn't help it. What the hell had happened last night? This was Linda Emerson, his worst, or one of his worst rivals at school and she was, what? Pitying him?

"Do you pity me?" he asked, barely suppressing the sarcasm in his voice

But Linda had started being serious and she continued that way: "Can I give you some advice? Not that you'd listen to me, but..."

He hated to admit it but he actually was curious.

"But what?" he asked.

"You should try to live a little. Have some fun. Get a hobby, play some music, go to a pub once in a while. And you need friends. Real friends. Not plotting, scheming deatheater wannabes. People you can trust, people you can owl in the middle of the night, people who let you sleep at their place when your wife kicks you out. Go talk to Lavinia", she said, in a surprisingly calm, soft voice.

While she was talking, she went to the door to let in the warming rays of the late October's sun. For a second, Orion wondered how all this had happened and where it would lead him, then Linda talked again.

"Any advice for me? Except for "Don't ever do that again", I mean?"

Orions mouth was still hanging open. It was all too much for him. It took some time to get his composure again.

"I have... told you about Lavinia?" he asked, awkwardly.

They were on dangerous territory. Linda stayed calm as she had been ever since she had first raised the subject.

"Yes, you have", she told him.

"Oh", was all he could muster.

He tried to remember what he could have told her and how much. It was useless. The last night stayed the black hole it had always been. His thoughts wandered to her other question. Had he advice for her? How could he have, if he didn't remember? He hadn't realized the awkward silence that filled the room – and he normally hated it so much.

It was Linda who spoke next.

She mustered him attentively. "You're just dying to get out of here, am I right?" she said.

Orion immediately got back into his ancient stiff bearing.

"Do you think I like to stay? After you've done nothing but humiliating me?" he asked, getting sarcastic again.

Linda was still relaxed. "Aw come on, it wasn't so bad. Just a little revenge for sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts. I will never mention this again. Unless you provoke me, of course", she told him.

He didn't understand: "What's your problem with those years? It seems as if you've got the better of it, after all. Who was top of the class? Who was first editor-in-chief of the newspaper? Who...?"

Finally, Orion Yaxley as he was known had found his way back to the surface. Linda rolled her eyes.

"It's not the point that I was successful, Orion. You made my life a living hell. You humiliated me in front of my classmates, you made fun of me when it hurt me the most. For someone like you, success may cancel out those other things, but for me, it didn't", she explained melancholically.

He wasn't through with the subject.

"And this is why you desperately wanted to humiliate me now?" he snapped.

He was lucky Linda was still in a good mood.

"Not desperately, no", she said, shrugging, "but I guess not even a Ravenclaw is above a little revenge. The opportunity presented itself, I took it. And I'm not sorry. You have permission to hate me even more from now on, but I will smile every time I think back to this."

_Wait._ This made no sense to Orion whatsoever. She had been serious, she had tried to give him advise and he sensed that he was in desperate need of it – and on the other hand she was keen on him to hate her.

"But you still wanted to give me advice?" he asked, consequently.

Now, she seemed to get a bit snarky as well. "Yes. So that others may not deal with the same prick I've had to deal with. That is, if you actually consider this advice. Which I doubt you will."

He lost it again.

"Dammit! I don't know if I will follow your advise! I don't remember what happened last night and ever since I met Lavinia last Saturday everything has gone wrong", he burst out, unable to tell where the sudden emotion had come from.

Linda raised an eybrow.

"Everything? You met her, right?" she asked, innocently.

"I thought you told me I told you last night?" he said, sounding bitter.

"You did, but not the details since then. But I'll say it again: talk to her. I think she's one of the few people who could actually handle you and help you", Linda went on.

Orion grew uneasy. Since when did he allow people like Linda to be so direct.

He raised an eyebrow, too, saying: "Handle me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Keep up with your constant habit of blaming everyone but yourself, for example. Telling you when other people are right and you are wrong. Lavinia can do that. And she will, if you let her", Linda explained him, flat out.

He grew defensive. "I don't blame everyone but myself. And besides... I don't even know if she's still talking to me after last Saturday", he tried.

The truth was, he had looked for someone to talk about this all week – and it was unexpected and a little unsettling that it had turned out to be Linda.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, is there?" she said.

He looked at her expectantly.

"And...?"

She gestured, getting annoyed.

"Go. To. Her. Actually, go home first and change clothes, and then go to her, talk to her, LISTEN to her, spend time with her. And forget about Bryony, because nobody - not even you - deserves to be treated like that", she told him and it sounded serious, honest and even a little compassionate.

He knew he should listen to her. But his mouth was faster than his thoughts.

"I can't possibly do that", he said.

"And why the hell not? What do you have to lose?" she asked, watching him sharply.

'_A million things'_, he wanted to say, but she wouldn't understand. She had never been one of the ancient pure-bloods like him. She didn't know what it meant to keep up appearances all the time. Pure-bloods don't get divorced, at worst, they arrange things in a certain way. He had his honour, his pride, perhaps even his status and his job to loose.

He sighed. "You don't understand anyway", was all he answered.

"No, I really don't", she admitted, and sighed as well

They both stayed for a moment in silence, then Orion got up.

"I should... probably leave now."

"I guess so", Linda agreed.

She pointed at his outfit.

"You, uhm... can bring that back when you find the time", she told him.

Orion blushed.

He had completely forgotten about the embarrassing T-Shirt he was wearing. Still, he forced himself into bearing again and put on business manners.

"Which will be next week", he said, "and I'll not enter that pub again."

"You don't have to", Linda calmed him, "just drop by the cottage and give them back to me. I'm home all day, since I work from here."

This was fine for him. He was still standing there in front of the table, undetermined about what to do. He sighed.

"Right. Well", he began and half expected to leave just like that.

He forced a smile. "Thanks. I guess."

Linda smiled back. "You're welcome. I think."

He hesitated, one part of him wanted to shake her hand as a goodbye, another wanted to stay away as far as possible. He finally raised his hand, but didn't go to her. She came towards him and accompanied him to the door.

"Goodbye", she said and held out her hand.

He took it. "Goodbye, then", he replied, turned on his heels and vanished with a small popping sound.

A/N: Now, this is almost the end. One more chapter might come later on, where Linda tells us what really happened that night.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Stina and me appreciate reviews!


	14. Chapter 13 Linda

Linda watched the space where Yaxley had been for a moment, then turned around and went back inside. She grinned as she remembered what had really happened that night.

After Yaxley had landed on top of her, she had just patted his cheek, hiccuped a "Whatever…" and watched the room spin. Yaxley smiled in a very drunk way. "You r sooo nice," was his comment.

Linda just grimaced. "Yep, that's me. Could you...?" she didn't finish her question, but pushed him aside until he fell onto the sheets next to her. Staring up at the ceiling, he asked, "Linda? Am I a baad perssson?".

She stared at the ceiling as well. "Sometimes. Most of the time. I think. I don't know. Why is the room spinning?"

Yaxley squinted at the walls. "Is it? You're right. Funny."

"I need my pillow. Where's my pillow," she mumbled, grabbed the desired object and pulled it from under Yaxley's head. "Gimme that." That seemed to be the cue for Yaxley to use her shoulder as a substitute for a pillow.

"And what about me?"

"You are an arrogant, racist-- oh you mean the pillow? Sorry, it's the only one I have. Good night."

"I'm not arrogant," came the sleepy reply from somewhere at her shoulder.

"Yes you are."

"You're not."

Linda blinked a couple of times, confused by the strange leap in logic. "Erm... thanks, I guess? Can we go to sleep now? Please?"

When no answer came, she looked down and saw that Yaxley had already fallen asleep. With a sigh, she fell back into the pillows and closed her eyes as well. Then she turned on her side, away from Yaxley. For a moment, there was silence. Then she felt Orion move in the darkness and suddenly, one of his arms found its way around her waist. She was too tired and too drunk to fight and fell asleep quickly.

A few hours later though, she awoke to the sound of loud snoring. For a few moments, she tried everything with Yaxley that she always tried with Lynx: pinching, kicking, hitting with pillows, silencing charms. Nothing helped. Finally, she grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket and moved to the living room. There she flung herself on the couch and buried her head under the blanket. Finally, silence. With a blissful sigh, she went back to sleep.

She had awoken early the next morning and fixed the anti-hangover potion, trying to concentrate through her pounding headache. And boy, the following hour had been so much fun. It had been a delight watching Yaxley's terrified face and reactions.

Still smiling, she pulled out her typewriter and settled down at the kitchen table to continue her story.

* * *

A/N: This is it. Definetly. Thanks for the reviews!

Stina & rareb


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